Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 146: The Round Table

Chapter 146: The Round Table

When Atticus and Calarian finally entered the conference hall, all the major leaders of the world had already gathered there. They sat patiently — with the leaders of more powerful kingdoms in seats directly at the table and the leaders of smaller countries a little further back — waiting for Atticus and Calarian to join them. They were, after all, the last ones to arrive.

"Sure, take your own sweet time. Not like anyone is waiting for you or anything," Prince Alistair grumbled under his breath, to which earned him a frown from King Calarian and a death glare from Atticus.

As room was limited in the conference hall, only one representative from each country had been invited to join in the discussion. Prince Alistair, naturally, was the representative for Reaweth. He was also very unfortunately assigned right in between Atticus and Calarian, sandwiched by the two men. He wasn’t a small man by any measure, but the both of them seem to dwarf him. He coughed, and tried to puff himself up to look bigger.

Thank every lucky star in the sky that half-sister wasn’t present. Drusilla had told him about everything that happened between the two of them when they were separated from the others, and Alistair vowed to keep them apart at all costs.

Atticus was not good enough for Drusilla! What’s more, Drusilla had annoyed him enough that Alistair feared Atticus might just slam Drusilla’s head into the nearest table or wall if he saw her within the next couple of days.

While King Calarian elegantly sat down, a rueful apology on his lips for the delay, Atticus plopped down carelessly. He rested his head on his palm, propped up by his elbow as he looked at Prince Nathaniel alongside the rest of the attendees.

Unlike everyone else, Atticus glared at Prince Nathaniel, a look of contempt on his face.

"That makes everyone," Prince Nathaniel said, clapping his hands together just once in satisfaction. "Alright then, let us begin. Although, I am afraid that the main discussion planned for today will have to be pushed back. We have more pressing matters on hand."

Prince Nathaniel’s face darkened as he looked at Atticus, as if to match his vitriol for him. The others followed his action, all turning their gazes to Atticus.

"King Atticus," Prince Nathaniel said, "I’m afraid I have some bad news."

"Do tell," Atticus said casually, but his eyes were cold. "Is it any worse than hiring a known criminal from my kingdom to kidnap my wife?"

Everyone flinched, as though Atticus had slammed his hand on the table instead of merely speaking.

"I did not hire this man. I have scoured through the records of all our castle staff and every single person involved in this event; we do not have any man named Eugene Attonson in our employ," Prince Nathaniel said calmly, while Atticus threw up his hands at the sheer ridiculousness of his words.

"Are you listening to the drivel you’re spouting?" Atticus asked incredulously, rising to his feet.

He towered over Prince Nathaniel, his anger coursing through him like bubbles in a champagne glass. The lights in the room flickered ominously, causing its occupants to look around warily.

"Stop lying to me to save your reputation! You cannot salvage this mess by sweeping it under a rug!"

"I swear, on my nation’s honor and my own, I am not lying. If I’m found lying, I will prostrate myself at your feet and beg for forgiveness for the harm I indirectly caused your wife." Prince Nathaniel also rose to his feet and met his eyes evenly.

He raised his hand and placed it on his heart, yet his next words were wintry.

"But while you might accuse me of negligence, I will not sit here and let myself be maligned without proof. You have accused me with no evidence, King Atticus."

The table shook as both men glared at each other, both unwilling to back down.

King Calarian cleared his throat, attracting their attention.

"I’m sure we can discuss things like gentlemen, instead of resorting to blows." He gave Atticus a warning look, wordlessly warning him to rein in his temper.

Atticus gritted his teeth and sat back down, crossing his arms. He glared at Prince Nathaniel in barely concealed hostility.

"I don’t need your begging. I need answers. Since you claim he’s not in your employ, you’re technically admitting that he snuck into your maze as a guard and no one noticed?" Atticus demanded. "You have a severe security breach in your kingdom!"

"No one wants this resolved more than I do. While we do not have someone with that exact name match, we did have someone new join us recently." Prince Nathaniel said, "His name is Jean, and he matches the description given. An initial background check did not flag any irregularities, but in light of this new development, I’m personally looking into it. I assure you, I will not rest unless I see a breakthrough in this case."

Everyone was so distracted by Prince Nathaniel’s words; no one saw the beads of sweat slowly forming on Alistair’s temple. He had to stop this!

"Prince Nathaniel, surely you don’t have to undertake such a tedious task on your own," Prince Alistair said casually. "I’m sure someone as busy as yourself can delegate this task to your staff."

A small member of staff was easily replaceable. Nothing needed to be too set in stone. It would be better if Prince Nathaniel just minded his own business and stopped being so nosy.

"Thank you for your concern, but I must decline," Prince Nathaniel said firmly. "This is too serious a matter to leave to anyone else. The person responsible for smuggling Eugene Attonson into my kingdom, into my event, has spat in the face of my people’s efforts for a brighter future."

At his words, Alistair paled further. This was the worst case scenario! Prince Nathaniel was known for being persistent and unmovable when it came to achieving his goals, and Alistair wouldn’t be able to injure or hoodwink him the way he could do with a staff. Prince Nathaniel was mightily skilled in his own right and he had an annoyingly overprotective younger sister to boot.

"That’s so much effort on your part for someone that might not even be the criminal," Alistair argued. "Jean is a ridiculously common name― why, in Reaweth alone we have tens of thousands of Jeans! I simply believe your time might be better spent elsewhere, chasing other leads."

He sent a nasty glare Atticus’s way.

"After all, who knows if King Atticus was actually completely honest about what happened. Maybe he’s simply using you to clean up his own messes. I don’t want you to waste your efforts."

Atticus stood up again, his temper rising to the surface. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"So what if I am?" Alistair retorted, also getting up. "I’m not the one who cheated in the maze with his wife’s help!"

"If we’re talking about suspicious individuals, you’re definitely at the top of my list!" Atticus declared with narrowed eyes. "For what reason are you so against the investigation of a potential lead? Could it be that this has something to do with you? Is this ’Jean’ alias from Reaweth, the land of ’tens of thousands of Jeans’?"

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